“Does my door have a sign on it somewhere asking you to stop by?” Moxie asked, squinting at Noah from the tiny crack she’d opened her door by. “What do you want?”

“Not all that much. I was just thinking about ways I could improve,” Noah drawled. “And you’re the most exemplary example of a teacher I know.”

“More like I’m the only other teacher that’s willing to speak to you, and that patience is already running thin. Just tell me what you want.”

Noah shrugged. “Fine. I want to shadow your class.”

Moxie blinked. She studied him for a moment, then opened the door a little more. “Why?”

“So I can learn what you do,” Noah replied. “I’ve been slacking for too long. If I’m going to do right by my students, I need to catch up on a lot of stuff including the proper way to instruct them.”

And, more importantly, I can learn more about what I’m supposed to be teaching. Fighting is clearly part of it, but is it everything?

"Right," Moxie drawled. "And that's it? No other motives?"

"...No?"

"Why do I not believe you?"

"What, do you want me to swear on it? I'm just trying to make sure I can get my students the best education I possibly can after neglecting my duties for so long. If you don't want to let me do it, I can find a different professor to bother."

Moxie didn’t respond for a few moments. Then she sighed. “I suppose I can’t refuse a request like that. If you’re hoping to get your hands on any of our Runes or combinations, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Today’s lesson is pretty boring. It’s not going to matter all that much for your own students.”

“That’s totally fine with me. It’s about the style.”

So we don’t teach the same things? Is Arbitage even a school if the curriculum isn’t standardized? It feels more like a pure research institute that just happens to assign professors to students. Actually, that’s literally just a shitty college with too much research money. It’s the same damn thing.

“Just don’t be disruptive,” Moxie ordered, stepping back and out of view for a moment. She reemerged with a bag slung over her shoulder. “And don’t interact with my student, Emily. I won’t have you bothering her.”

“I won’t say a word to her,” Noah promised.

Moxie shook her head. “Whatever. You’re already here, so we might as well go.”

She stepped out, locking the room behind her before setting off down the hall. Noah jogged to catch up with her. Moxie didn’t seem to be in a particularly talkative mood, so they remained silent throughout their walk.

Noah wasn’t sure if he was surprised or not to find that Moxie didn’t take him to the G building. Instead, they walked up to a large marble, open topped building that was labeled with an A. It was considerably closer to the teacher’s lodgings than Noah’s normal classroom was, and far better kept.

He tried not to marvel too much at the beautiful, polished steps and the large, carved doors as they entered the room. Moxie moved quickly, heading down the large hall that the doors led into. Dozens of doors lined its sides, and the hall branched off into several smaller ones.

Moxie took the first turn, continuing down the smaller hall before arriving at an unmarked room. She opened the door and stepped in, letting it swing shut and forcing Noah to catch it before it smacked him in the face.

“Oh, wow,” Noah said, his eyes widening as he entered the room. It wasn’t very large, with only six chairs arranged before a chalkboard, but the size hardly mattered. Every chair was padded, and light streamed into the room through a huge window that covered one of the walls. It was far, far better than the entirety of the G building put together.

“What?” Moxie asked, glancing back at him.

“Nothing. Just appreciating your room.”

Moxie shook her head again. She pointed to the chair farthest from her. “Just sit and don’t bother me. I need to prepare my notes. I was going to do this back in my room, but I’ll do it here instead.”

Noah nodded, sitting down in the chair. It sank in slightly under his weight. Somehow, it was even more comfortable than it had looked. Noah leaned his chin in his hand, looking around the small but clean room as Moxie dug some papers out of her bag and arranged them on the lacquered wooden podium.

The light streaming into the room somehow grew even brighter as the sun rose further. Before Noah knew it, almost an hour had passed. Moxie had long since finished her arrangements and was leaning against the board, staring out through the window in silent thought, when the door creaked.

A short girl with long, silver hair and petite features stepped into the room. Her eyes lit up as she saw Moxie standing by the board, but she paused as she spotted Noah. Recalling his promise to Moxie, Noah just inclined his head slightly.

“Don’t mind him, Emily,” Moxie said promptly. “He’s… sitting in. Just for one class.”

“Okay,” Emily replied, making her way over to the chair on the opposite side of the row and sitting down. “Are we going to be doing Runework again?”

“Not today. Don’t think I forgot about you failing that written test so quickly.”

Emily’s face paled. “But that was just boring stuff! None of it actually–”

“Applied to you?” Moxie’s eyebrow arched. There was a noticeable shift in her stance. Noah couldn’t place exactly what it was, but she’d suddenly gone from the sarcastic woman that he recognized into the pose of a professor.

Exactly what a professor looks like, I couldn’t say. But she looks like one.

“Just because you aren’t in another person’s situation doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply to you,” Moxie said, picking up a piece of chalk and tapping it on the board behind her. “Understanding how others work is what allows you to properly carry yourself as a noble.”

Emily’s eyes fell and her shoulders slumped slightly. “Okay.”

“No okay. Just improve,” Moxie said with a shake of her head. “Do you recall what the first question on the exam was? I can get it if you–”

“I know I got that one right!” Emily said, perking up slightly. “It was about who can use Runes, right? The answer was everyone.”

“The question was how do beings use Runes, and it was an essay question. You wrote one sentence.”

“But it answered the question!”

“No,” Moxie said with a sigh. “It didn’t. Even if I ignore the part of the question that said it was an essay, you’re missing the point. There are two key aspects to be addressed. How did you get your Runes, Emily?”

“My parents gave them to me.”

“Right,” Moxie said. “So were you born with Runes?”

“No. Of course not. Nobody is.”

“That’s true for humans, but not for all species,” Moxie said gently. She drew a line on the chalkboard, drawing a stick figure on one side of it. “Humans are born without Runes, which gives them the potential to gather any combination of seven they want. But many monsters are actually born with–”

“With Runes from their parents!” Emily exclaimed. “Yeah, I remember now.”

“After I basically told you,” Moxie said with a laugh. “But, yes. Some monsters are born with Runes that are already bound to their soul. While they can remove them, just like we can, having Runes bound to you that early makes it very, very difficult. So, even for the monsters intelligent enough to realize they want to remove a subpar Rune, many of them can’t. Why don’t you expand on that, since you’re suddenly remembering things?”

Emily paled. She cleared her throat, her eyes darting around the room as she thought. “Uh… soul damage?”

“A little more, please. What relation do monsters have with Runes that humans typically don’t?”

“Oh! It’s because they’re more closely tied, right? Monsters Runes tend to affect their physical forms more, modifying their appearance, while Humans keep our runes within our soul.”

Moxie grinned and nodded. She drew a very rough drawing of a monkey on the other side of the board.

Damn. She’s actually a pretty good artist.

“Exactly,” Moxie said. “Monsters often manifest physical attributes of their Runes because of how much they depend on their Runes. That can often make them comparatively stronger than humans of the same Rank, but that tends to be balanced out by…”

Moxie trailed off, waiting for Emily to finish the sentence.

“Lower intelligence?”

“Oftentimes yes, but that isn’t the reason. It’s the effect. Monsters are less intelligent because beings tend to evolve optimally. Monsters are stronger in their base forms than humans are, so there was less need for them to be intelligent. Humans, on the other hand, cannot get stronger unless we form powerful Rune combinations. That meant most of the really dumb ones died off.”

Moxie sent a quick glance at Noah when she said the last sentence, giving him a quick smirk. It didn’t feel as malicious as it almost did teasing.

Emily nodded her understanding. “I knew that. I kind of just forgot to write it down.”

“I know. That’s always the problem,” Moxie said, rubbing her forehead. “I know you can do better, Emily. You do fantastic on any exams actually related to Rune usage. Just don’t forget you’re a noble. You have duties beyond just fighting – you aren’t a soldier.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Moxie smiled. “Good. Let’s move on to the next question, then. You–”

“What about the second half of the first one?” Noah asked.

Moxie and Emily looked at him.

“You mentioned there were two key things, but only went over one of them.”

Moxie blinked, then reddened ever so slightly. “Right. The other aspect is the differences in humans. Not in talent, but in access.”

“People that already have good Rune combinations to build off and those without, right?” Emily asked. “Because if you don’t know what you’re doing, the chance of eventually failing one of your combinations and seriously setting yourself back are really high.”

So nobles versus non-nobles.

“Correct,” Moxie said. “There are Runes that aren’t restricted in circulation, but most Greater Runes and high quality combinations are closely guarded by the families that discover them. While this doesn’t make it impossible for less fortunate mages to get powerful, it does make it harder. Never underestimate an opponent, but keep the differences in your situations in mind. Someone with imperfect Rune combinations will run out of energy quicker than you, and if you’re both using the same type of magic, you’ll be able to cut them off of their powers easier because your Rune puts off more pressure than theirs.”

Emily nodded her understanding. Moxie turned back to the paper on the desk.

“The next question on the exam was the proper channel to request a new Rune combination through,” Moxie said. “You left it blank.”

“I can just ask mom and dad.”

Moxie sighed. “Yes, but that can’t be your actual answer. There are still ways that these things have to be done, Emily.”

Emily scrunched her nose. “Can we go to the next question?”

To Noah’s surprise, Moxie obliged. The rest of the questions on the exam weren’t of all that much interest to him, though he did listen in case there was any important information. Most of them were just about the proper people to speak to when Emily wanted something or another, but just about every one of Emily’s answers had been asking her parents.

Still, Noah had gained some vital information from the conversation that he hadn’t even been planning on learning.

Arbitage really wasn’t just about fighting. Moxie was trying to prepare Emily for court more than she was trying to teach the girl how to fight. It didn’t look like the lesson was that foreign to Emily, so it was clearly something they’d covered before.

Emily was clearly part of a noble family, and she didn’t have any worry about the cost of Runes in the slightest. Considering how little care she put into the questions Moxie asked about actually getting Runes, it either meant that her family was filthy rich or the Runes weren’t actually very restricted for nobility.

Noah didn’t have any good ways to press on the subject further yet, but that was fine with him. At the moment, the most important thing he could teach Isabel and Todd was still fighting. But, after this exam finished, he’d really need to find out how he could round their education out. If they needed to learn about anything like what Moxie was talking about, he wasn’t going to be of any use.

The class ended without any more information of interest, and Emily darted out the door after waving goodbye to Moxie.

“Why are you still here?” Moxie asked, packing her papers up.

“Just thinking,” Noah replied. “Thanks for letting me sit in. It was enlightening.”

“Really?” Moxie asked, glancing at him in surprise.

Ah, shit. I’m supposed to be part of a pretty big noble family.

“Just a different perspective on things.” Noah shrugged, rising to his feet and heading over to the door. He opened it and paused, glancing back at Moxie. “It was nice.”

“Glad to be of help, then,” Moxie said.

Noah stepped out, letting the door swing shut behind him, and headed down the hall. The day was still fairly young, and there was time to get more accomplished before it was out.

I’ve still got some money. Should I buy something else that’ll be useful or save up? Then again, I don’t even know what I actually need. Potions are a waste for me, as are Shields. Guess there’s no point spending money without knowing what I need.

His path decided, Noah set off to find Tim, excitement bubbling in his chest. It was time to have some fun.